US military spending
Overview
United States Democrats and liberals are frequently criticized as being anti-military, with the correlation between military spending and presidential party affiliation being offered as evidence. There is clearly a correlation, and further analysis is needed, but it should be noted that (for example) military spending declined significantly under George H.W. Bush and grew under Jimmy Carter. Overall, there has been a mostly-steady decline in military spending since the end of World War II, rather than a clear oscillation between low Democratic spending levels and higher Republican ones.
Military budgets by president
Changeover years are credited to both outgoing and incoming presidents. GDP = Gross Domestic Product; DS = Discretionary Spending. Source: truthandpolitics.org
| President | Years | Party | % of GDP | % of DS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Clinton | 1993-2001 | D | 3.4444444444444 (4.4, 4.0, 3.7, 3.5, 3.3, 3.1, 3.0, 3.0, 3.0) |
49.8 (54.2, 52.1, 50.2, 49.9, 49.6, 48.9, 48.2, 48.0, 47.1) |
| George H.W. Bush | 1989-1993 | R | 4.92 (5.6, 5.2, 4.6, 4.8, 4.4) |
58.6 (62.2, 60.0, 59.9, 56.7, 54.2) |
| Ronald Reagan | 1981-1989 | R | 5.8444444444444 (5.1, 5.7, 6.1, 5.9, 6.1, 6.2, 6.1, 5.8, 5.6) |
59.944444444444 (51.3, 57.0, 59.4, 60.1, 60.9, 62.4, 63.6, 62.6, 62.2) |
| Jimmy Carter | 1977-1981 | D | 4.84 (4.9, 4.7, 4.6, 4.9, 5.1) |
49.2 (49.5, 47.8, 48.7, 48.7, 51.3) |
Reference
Positions
- "Republics have large paid standing armies at their peril. The peril may be adventurism and imperialism ("What's the use of having this powerful army if we can't use it?") or something worse, but the result is never very good. When recruitment becomes an important military activity there's something wrong." – Jerry Pournelle [1], conservative author